Berk's Dragons
by kyuuley
Summary: Contains Rider's of Berk AND Defender's of Berk. Here the Haddock siblings will face the many challenges that come with being dragon trainers, be it them preventing their dragons from being banished to them finding new kinds of dragon species. It's all one epic adventure that you don't want to miss. Some chapters will range M later on, mainly for violence/gore. Enjoy!
1. Starting an Academy

**Starting an Academy (Without Permission)**

Out by the coast of Berk were five dragons perched on one of the many sea stacks. Seated on top of those dragons were seven young Vikings. They were all impatient to start their flying competition.

"Alright, who's first?" asked Hiccup looking over at the others.

"Oh, I-"began Fishlegs.

"I'll go first," interrupted Snotlout.

Fishlegs frowned at the dark-haired boy, "Actually, I-"

"I'll go first," protested Snotlout more loudly.

"For the love of Thor, will you just go already," said Astrid, deeply annoyed.

"Oh, I'll go and when I do you'll know 'cause Hookfang and I are going to –"

Before Snotlout could finish his boasting Hookfang took to the skies. Snotlout quickly hung onto the Nightmare's horns or risk falling. Everyone watched in amusement as Hookfang flew dangerously close to the sea stacks, causing his rider's helmet to scrape against them. Ignoring his owner's pained shouts the Nightmare then dove into the sea. After a few seconds he burst through the water landing right where they began.

"Yes, I'm alive," exclaimed Snotlout patting his body in relief. "I mean, of course I'm alive."

"I'm next," called Fishlegs before anyone else could do so.

Slowly Fishlegs and Meatlug rose off the sea stack. They made a small circle around the stone mass before landing back down.

"Woohoo, new record," cheered the blonde boy, giving the Gronkle a loving hug. "Good job girl."

"I'm next," called Tuffnut.

"No, I'm next," protested Ruffnut giving him a push.

"No, I'm next! No, I'm next! No, I'm next!"

"Guys," called Hiccup, slightly annoyed by their bickering. "Same dragon, remember?"

The twins paused from their fighting to look down at the Zippleback.

"Oh, yeah," murmured Tuffnut. "We forgot."

Ignoring the eye-roll form the rest of group the twins took off. They didn't get too far, however. Just as they were about to start the twins continually gave different commands causing Barf and Belch to crash into a sea stack.

Annoyed by their rider's lack of cooperation both heads tossed each team into the sky. Ruffnut and Tuffnut screamed in horror and amazement as they fell at rapid speed towards the sea.

"Should we help them?" whispered Hiccup, worried about the twin's safety.

Snow shook her head, "Nah, they'll be fine."

Just as she predicted the twins were caught mid-fall by their dragon. Smugly Barf and Belch flew back to the sea stack.

"We almost died," said Ruffnut when they landed.

"I know," agreed her brother. "Want to do it again?"

The group just shook their heads at the twins' reckless nature.

"It looks like I'm up," said Astrid smiling at Hiccup and Snowstorm. "You two might want to take notes."

Before the other two could reply Astrid was off. Everyone watched in awe as she and Bluebird performed a series of well-timed flips, twirls, and spirals with perfect accuracy. All too soon Bluebird landed back on the sea stack. Astrid smiled proudly at the others as she did so.

"Yeah, well, can you do it without the dragon?" asked Snotlout, slightly jealous at the girl's ability to command her dragon. Astrid answered him with a punch on the shoulder.

"It looks like we've got our work cut out for us, guys," said Hiccup causing his sister and dragon to grin widely. Getting of the stone, Toothless dived for the water at top speed only to lift up seconds before they reached it.

With great skill the three wove through the sea stacks at top speed. They executed spins and sharp turns as they did so. Soon they headed toward a stone arch. Smiling Snow stood up on top of Toothless, walking backwards until she reached the middle of his tail. Just as they got close to it Toothless gave his tail a hard flick, sending the red-head high into the air. A second later Hiccup jumped off Toothless, racing across the arch as the Night Fury flew underneath it.

When they reached the end of the arch Hiccup jumped back on Toothless. Half a second later Snowstorm landed right behind her brother, still standing with her hands in the air.

The three finished off with Toothless shooting a series of plasma blasts, giving the sky a beautiful purple glow.

"Yup, they're still the best," commented Astrid as she watched the trio fly back home.

* * *

"Whoa, what a mess," said Snowstorm when they landed in the plaza. Hiccup nodded in agreement.

Everywhere dragons were running amuck. They sat on people's roofs. They eat their foods. One Gronkle even ran off with a woman's laundry.

"It's three o'clock," shouted a man pointing to the sky.

At that moment dozens of dragons flew overhead, defecating as they did so. Hastily everyone ducked for cover, not wanting to get hit.

"Ew, ew, ew," chanted the Haddocks as they ran for shelter. Thankfully they were near Mulch and Bucket, who had makeshift umbrellas at hand.

"Every day at three, they're regular at least," said Bucket. "I've got to tip my hat at that."

"Better than the days were it was kill or be killed," said Mulch. "That reminds me, we've got something for that father of yours. Bucket, give the kids the cod."

Bucket held up a large, empty sack with a large hole at the bottom. The large man looked at the bag quizzically. "Did I eat them already? Did I enjoy it?"

"Actually, no, Bucket. It was them," said Hiccup, pointing to a group of Terrible Terrors running off with the cod. "Sorry about that."

Snow just shrugged, "You've got to take the good with the bad, Hiccup."

* * *

Deep in the edge of town a grouchy old man woke up in the middle of the night. His name was Mildew. He lived alone with his pet sheep, Fungus. This was mostly for the benefit of the villagers seeing that very few could tolerate the aged Viking's constant string of complaints.

Grumbling the grump got out of bed and out of his house to see who or what was disturbing his slumber. To his displeasure it was a large Gronkle napping on his roof. After shooing away the dragon Mildew began to pick up the remains of an eaten cabbage.

"Bah, pesky dragons," grumbled the man. "Disturbing an old man's sleep and helping themselves to _my_ cabbages."

Mildew then gasped as he looked at the rest of his field. It was completely empty. All the near full grown cabbages were gone. The only things that were left were a few stray leaves that the dragons didn't eat.

Growling in anger Mildew stomped back into his home to get ready for his trip to the village. This whole ordeal with the dragons had been going on long enough. Just because the war was over didn't mean that the beasts had to live in Berk. Dragons were a menace to the village and Stoick was going to see it his way sooner or later.

* * *

Meanwhile in the plaza Stoick was overseeing the storage of their winter supply. "Put most of it in the back," he ordered. "The fishing boats are coming in with a new batch."

"Stoick!" called Mildew, walking up to the chief.

"Oh, here come's Mildew with the complaint of the day," said Gobber at the sight of the old man.

"Not now Mildew, I'm in the middle of food storage," said Stoick. "The freeze is nearly here."

Mildew ignored the chief's words. "It's those dragons again. Those demons are not fit to live among civilized men."

"Neither are you, Mildew," commented Gobber. "Why do you think we built your house so far from the village?"

"Bah, make your jokes," grumbled Mildew turning around to address the people below. "Meanwhile these dragons are eating all our food and turning our homes into rubble!"

Several nearby villagers gave loud shouts of agreement.

"They've even disturbed an old man's rest," he said, showing Stoick and Gobber the dark bags underneath his eyes. "Just look at these bags."

"He's right, he's hideous," agreed Gobber.

"These are wild and unpredictable beasts," continued Mildew, gathering support as he went on. He pointed to Bucket. "They even cracked this man's skull like an egg."

"I like eggs," said Bucket excitedly.

"You need to put those dragons in cages," demanded Mildew.

Snowstorm and Hiccup shared a worried look. They had just returned from a morning flight and were shocked to see the mob that Mildew had stirred up.

"If you don't, they'll eat us out of house and home and destroy the whole village!"

Loud cries of agreement were heard from the crowd.

"They don't mean any harm," protested Snow, running up to stand in front of the crowd.

"They're just being dragons," added Hiccup, standing next to his sister.

Stoick placed a hand on their shoulders, pulling them back. "If there's a problem, I'll deal with it."

"Oh, there is a problem," said Mildew, turning to leave. "And I believe that I speak for everyone when I say that you had better do something about it."

The villagers began to shout their complaints at Stoick as Mildew left. Frustrated with the threat and constant yelling Snowstorm stomped forward to stand in front of her father. She took a deep breath.

"Enough!" she shouted.

Everyone stopped to look at her with shocked expressions.

"I know that you've all got complaints," she said quickly before anyone could interrupt her. "But this is neither the time nor the place to do so. The freeze is nearly here, and none of us can afford for the food storage to be interrupted."

Several villagers nodded in agreement.

"If you have a complaint please save it for the tribal address next week, where the chief can put his attention into helping you solve your issues," she continued. "Now if that is all please go on with your day."

Much to Stoick's and Gobber's surprise the crowd began to walk away. Nodding in approval Snowstorm turned to face the men, raising an eyebrow at their expressions.

"What?" she said. "Mildew isn't the only one who can handle a crowd."

Hiccup chuckled, momentarily forgetting his worry about the dragons. "C'mon Miss Chieftain, let's get some food."

"Let's," nodded Snow, grabbing hold of her brother's hand.

* * *

Later that day Stoick paced in front of his fireplace, wondering how to solve the dragon problem. Both his children and their dragon looked on from the stairs while Gobber sat in a chair carving a duck.

"We can't just let the dragons run wild like they own the place, Snowstorm does that already," said Stoick, the girl in question just shrugged. "I know we can put up signs."

"Signs? For dragons?" questioned Gobber.

"No, for the people," clarified Stoick.

"Signs, for Vikings? We're not big readers, you know."

Stoick shook his head, "Then we'll just put a large net around the plaza."

"Will it be made of metal?" asked Snow. "Otherwise the dragons will just burn it."

Stoick let out a frustrated groan, accidentally knocking a chair over with his arm. "Maybe Mildew was right."

"Dad, wait," said Hiccup, straightening the chair. "What if I deal with the dragons?"

"You?" questioned Stoick.

"Yes, him," answered Snow, standing next to her brother with her hands on her undeveloped hips. "Hiccup is the best man for the job. No one else can control dragons the way he can."

"He's not a man yet," argued Stoick.

"Not if you don't give me the chance," countered Hiccup.

Stoick and Gobber shared a look, knowing that the teen was right.

"Alright," agreed Stoick. "You'll have your chance starting tomorrow."

"I guess we'd better get to bed then," said Snow, climbing up the stairs. "We wouldn't want to oversleep."

Hiccup smiled, following after his sister.

* * *

The next morning the Haddock siblings were up early, ready to train some dragons.

"Alright, guys, there's going to be some changes around here," said looking around the plaza.

At that moment they heard a startled shout. Turning towards the sound they saw a woman trying to keep her bread out of the jaws of a hungry dragon.

"Stay away from my bread, dragon," she said running into her home. The Nadder tried to follow after her but he was stopped by Hiccup.

"No, bad dragon," he said, placing a gentle hand on the dragon's snout. "We don't take other people's bread."

The Nadder calmed under Hiccup's touch.

"Good," whispered Hiccup, smiling brightly.

It didn't last long though. A chicken chasing Gronkle had burst into the plaza, startling the dragon. Hiccup sighed when both dragons began to chase after the chickens.

"Hiccup!" called Snow, pointing to a hill where a Nadder and Nightmare were fighting.

"Toothless, stop that fight!" ordered Hiccup, racing towards an unfortunate sheep that got caught in the cross fire, quite literally. "We'll put out the sheep."

"Stop running," said Snow, trying to grab the sheep but failing. "It's stop, drop, and roll, you stupid sheep!"

All around them the dragons ran even wilder. They were stealing people's carts, flying overhead, taking away food. In short they were causing chaos.

Up above in the watch tower the rest of the teen looked on as their friends scurried underneath.

"What are they doing?" questioned Snotlout.

"I think they're helping the dragons break things," said Tuffnut.

"They could really use our help," commented Astrid, watching the Haddock kids attempt to corner a sheep long enough to put out it's fire.

"In a minute," said Ruffnut leisurely.

Finally Hiccup was able to corner the sheep long enough to douse it with water.

"Sorry about that," he said, sighing tiredly.

"Oh no," breathed Snow, looking up at the sky.

"What's wrong?"

Sighing Snowstorm put the now empty bucket on top of her head like a helmet. "It's three o'clock."

"Just great," groaned Hiccup closing his eyes for the incoming impact.

* * *

That night after one extremely long bath both Vikings laid down on their beds, groaning in pain and exhaustion.

"Everything hurts, even this," complained Hiccup to Toothless, pointing to his prosthetic.

"Join the club," said Snow, curling into a ball.

"Hiccup?" called a familiar voice from down stairs.

"Astrid?" said Hiccup, quickly rising to his feet to make himself look decent. "I don't look too beat up, do I?"

Both Snow and Toothless gave the boy sad looks.

"Great, sibling pity," he said, turning around in time to see Astrid climbing up the stairs. "Hey, Astrid. What a surprise."

"So, how was your day?" she asked crossing her arms across her chest.

"Uneventful, just hung around the plaza," lied Hiccup, trying to keep his composure.

"Yeah, we saw you," said Astrid, picking a small piece of dirt off his vest. "It's hard to believe you're still standing."

Relieved that he didn't have to continue lying Hiccup fell down on his bed with a groan.

"I'm going to be seeing flaming sheep in my sleep for weeks."

"Hiccup, Snowstorm!" called Stoick climbing up to their room.

With a sigh both kids rose to their feet to greet their father.

"What happened out there? The plaza looks like a war zone," demanded Stoick.

"I know that it looks bad," began Hiccup.

"Really bad," whispered Astrid.

"Not helping," hissed Snow.

Hiccup ignored them. "But this is just phase one of my master plan."

"Oh," said Stoick in surprise. "So you do have a plan."

"Of course he does," defended Snow. "It's just very complicated. Lots of moving parts, all those kind of things."

"Uh-huh," nodded Stoick skeptically. "Well, I hope that it's real because Mildew's stirred up the whole village and if you don't get those dragon's under control they'll be asking for their heads."

Frightened Snow wrapped her arms protectively around Toothless' neck, missing the apologetic look her father sent her before he walked down stairs.

"Don't worry, bud, your head's not going anywhere," said Hiccup petting the dragon's head.

"You do realize that there are like a hundred dragons and only two to you," said Astrid. "I hope you guys do have a plan."

Snow rolled her eyes, annoyed with the blonde's less-than-helpful attitude. "Thank you, Astrid, for pointing out the obvious."

Astrid glared at the little red-head. That snarky attitude might be endearing on Hiccup but it was annoying on Snowstorm, in her eyes at least.

Snow met her gaze with a deadpanned stare. "What? Are you going to help us or not?"

Astrid nodded, turning to leave. "Just name the place and we'll meet you there."

Hiccup smiled, "Thanks, Astrid, I'll tell you in the morning."

The blonde girl gave him a small smile in return before heading down the stairs.

"So, where are we going to meet?" asked Snow climbing under the covers of her bed.

"I'm not sure, what's a good vacant spot where we can train our dragons?"

They mulled over that question for a while even when Hiccup had put out the candles. Suddenly Snow sat up in her bed. "The dragon arena."

Hiccup thought it over for a second before nodding in agreement. "You're right. It's large, secluded enough so we won't be bothering anyone, and it's completely vacant. But do you think Dad's going to let us use it?"

Snow shrugged, "Does it even matter?"

* * *

The next morning all the teens were at the arena along with their dragons.

"You want us to train our dragons here? Where we used to kill them?" asked Astrid a bit incredulous.

"That's right," answered Hiccup placing a basket down in front of them. "Because we don't do that anymore."

"Actually, the dragons seem a little on edge," said Astrid, trying to sooth Bluebird.

"That's because they're extra sensitive, especially Meatlug," explained Fishlegs hugging the Gronkle. "She lost a cousin here we try not to talk about it."

"It's amazing that your father just gave us the arena," said Astrid looking around in awe.

Hiccup gave her a sheepish look. "It would be if he actually did."

"You mean that we're going behind his back?" frowned Astrid.

Snow tilted her head in confusion. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"Here's the deal, guys, the dragons are out of control," said Hiccup getting everyone to focus. "We want them to live in our world without destroying them but they can't do that without our help. The dragons are breaking things and we need to do something about it."

Tuffnut nodded excitedly. "Got it, help dragons break stuff."

"No, actually, I-" protested Hiccup.

"First we get them really mad," interrupted Ruffnut.

"Guys!" called Hiccup, breaking the twins' train of thought. "Mildew wants our dragons caged and I don't know about you but that's not ok with me."

"Alright, she's sorry," apologized Tuffnut pointing to his sister.

"The first order of business is getting the dragons to stop eating all the food," said Hiccup taking out a piece of bread from the basket which Toothless quickly grabbed.

"Now if you see a dragon with something it shouldn't have, just give him a little scratch underneath the chin and he'll drop it," explained Snow, demonstrating with Toothless until the dragon let the pastry fall into her hand.

"Nah, nah, nah," said Snotlout taking the bread from his cousin's hand and throwing it to Hookfang. "Hookfang and I work a little differently. When I want this bad boy to do something I just get right in his face and say,"

"Drop that right now!" shouted Snotlout at the dragon. Hookfang dropped the bread only to replace it with the head of his rider.

"Heh, should we help him?" asked Tuffnut.

"Give him a minute," answered Astrid.

Ignoring his cousin's dilemma Hiccup took out several more loaves from the basket. "Ok, who wants to go next?"

"Uh, can someone do that chin scratchy thing, please?" called Snotlout from his dragon's mouth.

Sighing Snowstorm walked over until she stood in front of the Nightmare. Looking at the dragon dead in the eye she pointed to the floor. "Drop him."

To everyone's amusement the Nightmare did just that.

"How come he listens to you?" asked Snotlout wiping dragon drool off his clothes.

"Because he respects me," answered Snow giving Hookfang a scratch underneath the chin as a reward.

Snotlout just gave her glare in return.

* * *

That afternoon the teens were walking through the plaza, ready to train some dragons. Oddly, though, there weren't any dragons in sight.

"Well, that was easy," commented Tuffnut.

"Lunch?" offered Snotlout.

"That's odd, where could the dragons have gone?" wondered Hiccup looking around.

Suddenly a loud explosion rang throughout the village.

"Something tells me we should follow the explosion," said Snow racing towards the sound.

Once they reached the source of the sound all the teens stared in shock. The dragons had broken into the food storage. The building was in ruins, empty and burned.

"Bluebird," called Astrid, shocked to see her own Nadder participating in the mayhem along with Hookfang.

"Hookfang," chastised Snotlout. "Bad dragon."

The Haddock children raced inside the building, desperate to see if there was anything left. They only thing they saw was their father tossing a fallen pillar to the side, barely able to control his frustration.

"They've eaten everything," he said. "We've got nothing left for the freeze."

"Dad, I'm so sorry," apologized Hiccup.

"I warned you, Stoick, but did you listen to me," interrupted Mildew getting in the chief's face. "No, you left a bunch of teenagers in charge. Now look at the mess those dragons made!"

"Dad, I swear I can fix this."

Stoick shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but how can I trust you to control all the dragons when you can't even control your own."

Both children looked back to see Toothless happily gobbling up fish from an overturned basket.

"Father, please," insisted Snow. "It's just a fluke, please give us another chance."

Stoick ignore her, gathering as many baskets as he could. "Mulch, Bucket, ready the boats. We need to gather as much food as we can."

"There's no time," protested Mulch, catching the basket Stoick had tossed him. "It took us six months to gather that much fish."

"Don't tell me there's no time," said Stoick sternly. "We've got to try."

"Of course we do," agreed Mulch nervously before glaring at Bucket. "Shame on you Bucket, don't tell the Chief there's no time."

"I don't know what wrong with me," said the dim-witted blonde.

Ignoring the two Stoick marched out of the building. His children trailed after him.

"Dad, you've got to listen to me," insisted Hiccup. "No one else knows dragons like I do."

Stoick shook his head, loading baskets into a wagon. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but I have an entire village to feed. I want those dragons locked up by tonight, understand?"

"Caging is too good for those beasts," protested Mildew. "You need to send them away now."

Much to Hiccup's and Snow's displeasure several villagers shouted in agreement, fed up with the dragon's constant destruction. Sensing their distress Toothless walked up to the children wanting to comfort them.

"Mildew's right," agreed Stoick. "Hiccup will cage them tonight, and in the morning he'll send them off the island."  
"All of them?" asked Snow, hugging Toothless.

Stoick nodded, hating the betrayed look his daughter gave him.

* * *

That evening the teens stared helplessly at their food, hating that they were unable to help the dragons stay on Berk.

"I can't believe that we have to send them away," complained Snotlout.

"I know," murmured Astrid. "I've gotten used to Bluebird's face being the first thing I see in the morning."

"Every night Meatlug would lick my feet before I went to sleep," said Fishlegs pitifully. "Who's going to do that know?"

"I volunteer Tuffnut," said Ruffnut trying to lighten the mood.  
The male twin just shrugged too depressed to protest. "Whatever, what time should I be there?"

Sighing Astrid stood up. "Let's get this over with, guys."

"We're never going to see our dragons again," wailed Fishlegs following after her. "This is the worst day ever!"

"I can't let that happen," said Hiccup, walking over to where Toothless and Snow laid curled up together, looking heartbroken. "Toothless is the best thing to happen to Snow and me."

"How sad, two children saying good-bye to their dragon," gloated Mildew standing front of them.

"What do you want?" growled Snow.

"You know what your problem was?" said Mildew. "You thought dragons could be _trained_. A dragons gonna do what a dragons gonna do. It's their nature and nature always wins."

Both children and Night Fury glared at the old man as he walked away. Hating the smug smile he had the whole time.

Suddenly a large gust of wind rushed through the Great Hall when someone had opened the doors. The wind was so strong that it put out the fire in one of the pits. Without any command Toothless quickly relight the fire.

"Oh, thank you Toothless," said a woman, warming her hands by the fire.

Smiling wide Hiccup turned to his sister. "Mildew just gave me an idea."

"Will it save the dragons?" whispered Snow hopefully.

"I think it will," nodded Hiccup.

Not needing anymore assurance Snowstorm ran out of the Great Hall. "C'mon, we've got to tell the others!"

* * *

Way on the other side of the village the rest of the teens had landed at the dragon arena. With a heavy heart they said their good-byes before ordering their dragons into the cage.

"Ugh, why does it feel like something is biting at my chest?" said Snotlout in frustration.

"That's what it feels like when your heart is breaking," answered Astrid sadly.

"I don't have a heart, I'm not a girl," protested the brunette.

Once all the dragons were in the cage did they pull the lever to close the gates, hating the sad looks their dragons gave them as the iron bars came down slowly.

"Don't close it," called Hiccup landing behind the teens. Wasting no time Snow jumped off Toothless, pushing the leaver to raise the gate.

"We're not locking them up," said Hiccup.

"What happened? Did you change your fathers mind?" asked Astrid excitedly before narrowing her eyes at him. "Or are we going behind his back again?"

"You have three guesses," said Snow with a grin. "And the first two don't count."

"Look, the dragons are going to do what they're going to do, it's their nature," explained Hiccup. "We just have to learn how to use it."

Astrid looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure it's going to work? We'll be in a lot of trouble if it doesn't."

The rest of the teens nodded in agreement.

"It will," assured Hiccup. "Trust me."

After a long pause they all nodded. "So, what's the plan?" asked Fishlegs.

* * *

The next morning the dragon rider's took off to the sky, eager to get their plan in motion. Snotlout and his cousins flew where Mulch and Bucket were unsuccessfully trying to fish.

"Scare us up some dinner, Snotlout," called Snow.

Grinning wildly Snotlout steered Hookfang to dive into the water. In the process they scared large amount of fish into the fishermen's nets.

"Thank you, dragon," waved the two Vikings as the Nightmare flew off.

"That's right, that just happened," whooped Snotlout.

After that the Haddocks lead Astrid and Fishlegs to Mildew's place. The old man looked up from his cabbage field to see three dragons fly towards him.

"Afternoon, Mildew," called Astrid, using Bluebird's tail spikes to dig grooves into the field.

"Here come the seeds," sang Snow, as she and Hiccup overturned bags of cabbage seeds into the grooves.

Following after them was Fishlegs, leading a large group of Gronkles behind him. It was three o'clock.

"Let it rip, Meatlug," said Fishlegs as they flew directly over the field. Mildew looked on in disgust as dragon dropping landed right on his land.

"Don't look so sour, Mildew," called Hiccup. "We just saved you three months' worth of work."

Later by the fields the twins used Barf and Belch's explosions to scare boars towards the village. Hiccup and Snow joined them, using Toothless' plasma blast to lead the livestock right into an open barn. Gobber smiled proudly at the kids as he closed doors.

The teens landed in front of the barn, amazed that the plan had worked.

"That was awesome," exclaimed Fishlegs.

"How did you know that was going to work?" asked Astrid.

"Because they're dragons, it's in their nature," explained Hiccup. "We just needed to work with them instead of against them."

Snow nodded enthusiastically. "You know who we really should be thanking-"

"There they are, Stoick," called an angry Mildew. "Those dragons don't look like they're being sent off to me."

"No, they don't," said Stoick giving his children a stern look.

"Look, Dad, I know that-" began Hiccup.

Stoick held up a hand. "I want you to get these dragons back in their cages. Then I want _all_ of you to wait for me in the arena, do you understand?"

All seven kids nodded solemnly, dreading whatever kind of punishment the chieftain had in store for them.

* * *

While the children waited for Stoick to reach the arena several villagers gathered around the stands, curious to see what would happen. No one was more excited, however, than Mildew. The man was practically giddy with glee.

Even though the rest of the teens squirmed nervously at the thought of what Stoick might do to them Snow remained unrepentant.

"I don't see why we should get punished," she pouted, crossing her arms. "We fixed all the problems. Don't the ends justify the means?"

Just then Stoick walked into the arena being trailed by Gobber. "You all disobeyed my orders, and there will be consequences."

"I told you we would get in trouble," grumbled Astrid, regretting her decision to disobey. "You never listen to me."

Snow glared at the older girl. "You knew what you were getting into, so quit complaining."

Hiccup shook his head at the girls, ending whatever argument they were about to have. Turning back to face his father, the auburn haired boy stepped forward. "Dad, it was all my idea. If anyone should be punished it should be me."

"No, you all took part in this and you all will be held accountable," said Stoick.

Mildew scooted forward in his seat, eager to see what Stoick would dish out.

"You took over the arena without my permission," continued Stoick, passing in front of them. "You let the dragons out of their cages against my orders,"

He stopped to look at all of them. "Things are going to change around here. That's why-"

"You're all getting a dragon training academy," interrupted Gobber unable to contain himself much longer.

Hiccup gave the men a bewildered look. Snowstorm let out a squeal of delight. Astrid smile brightly. Fishlegs and Snotlout fist bumped. And the twins high-fived each other.

"Gobber," said Stoick indignantly. "I wanted to them that."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself," said the blonde man. "You can tell them the rest."

"Well, you said most of it," protested Stoick.

"You can tell them how proud you are of them," offered Gobber.

Stoick let out an exasperated groan before turning towards the kids.

"Well, what he said. You've all made me very proud today," he said, walking over to open the cage that held their dragons. "That's why you're getting this dragon training academy."

The second the doors opened both dragons and trainers raced towards one another, happy that they were able to stay together.

"Thank you, Father," called Snow, hugging Toothless tightly alongside her brother.

Up in the stands Mildew stormed off in anger. He'll get those dragons yet.

Stoick smiled warmly at the joyous expressions in his kids' faces. "Now all you need to do is train them."

"Not a problem, as long as I have these two," said Hiccup, motioning towards his sister and dragon. Behind them Astrid gave a pointed cough making Hiccup grin. "And them too, of course."

"Of course," agreed Snow, snuggling happily underneath Toothless' chin.


	2. Gobber Needs A Job

**Hello my friends. Sorry for the delay I was a bit busy with finals, and my whole worship group and I are working hard for our presentation in church this Sunday. So while I would still write the chapters I couldn't as a whole type and edit them. So that's why I'm a bit late.**

**Also I watched the new trailer for How to Train Your Dragon. Two words, MIND BLOWN. Seriously, Hiccup is hot but still his dorky self, Astrid looks pretty, the dragons are awesome, and the story looks twice as epic as the first movie. **

**My only problem is with Valka (That's her name I looked it up). I have absolutely no idea how to explain her appearance in my stories. Not to mention I don't know how to explain it if they give a specific time in Hiccup's life when she left. Sigh, I guess I'll just have to watch the movie, buy it on blue-ray a few months later and figure it out. (I hope I don't have to go back and rewrite all of my stories cause that would SUCK)**

**Also this whole 'mommy was never dead she just left' scenario is going to open up a lot of wounds in Hiccup and Snowstorm. I don't know the whole story, but I do know that Snow is not going to take that whole 'I left to protect the dragons' thing lying down. She will be hurt and she will be mad. She might even throw a punch or two, I don't know. But I do know that it will push her closer to Stoick, allowing her to realize that even though he wasn't the world's greatest father he stayed and tried his best, and that's all that truly mattered. **

**On a happier note you guys can now have a clear picture of what Snow will look like when she's older. She's not an exact carbon copy of her mother but she takes a lot after her. Here's the list.**

**From Stoick she got his mouth shape, ears, forehead, hair color and volume (seriously I wish I had hair as voluminous as the Haddocks), not to mention his strength and Height (she's nearly as tall as Hiccup, it sometimes gets on his nerves.)**

**From Valka she got her eye shape (round and doe-y looking) and eye color (though a few shades lighter), her nose, face shape, chin and jaw line.**

**As for the curly hair, I have no idea. It's hard to tell whether a Valka's hair is curly because of her braids but Snow could've gotten it from a grandparent or something.**

**Please keep note that while those traits are hinted at right now. Snow is still twelve years old, meaning she still hasn't lost the baby face.**

**Thank you for being patient with me, now on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Snow and a couple of future OC's.**

* * *

Inside the Dragon Training Academy Berk's riders were in the middle of a trivia game. It was thought up by Hiccup as a way for the other teens to show the extent of their dragon knowledge. There were two teams: Astrid's team which consisted of herself and Fishlegs, and Snotlout's team which included him and the twins. Hiccup worked as a mediator, asking the teams questions, while Snowstorm was the score keeper.

"Alright, which dragon makes the best welding torch?" asked Hiccup.

Astrid quickly raised her hand. "Oh, a Deadly Nadder."

"It's magnesium flame burns with the heat of the sun," added Fishlegs.

"Correct," said Hiccup. "One point for Team Astrid."

"The score is now a hundred to ten," said Snow putting a dash mark on the blackboard.

"And you started with ten," snickered Astrid, motioning to the other teen.

"Well, the game's not over," scowled Tuffnut. "Wait, which team am I on?"

Hiccup ignored him, "Team Snotlout, what is the shot limit of a Hideous Zippleback?"

"I don't think they can count that high," goaded Astrid before the other team could answer.

Ruffnut just sent her a wicked smile in return. "Oh, really? Let's find out, Barf! Belch!"

Answering to their rider's call both heads rose from their resting place. In quick succession they fired six fire balls at the opposing team's heads. Tuffnut grinned holding up two fingers. "Looks like it's about three."

"Told you we could count that high," said his sister.

"It's six, actually," corrected Hiccup. "You're half right."

"That means you get five points," said Snow, quickly adding the points to the trio's side of the board.

"Yes, we're up to thirty," grinned Ruffnut, high-fiving her team mates.

Astrid rose form her crouch. "Alright, it's our turn. What happens when you shoot fire at the owner of a Deadly Nadder?"

Letting out a whistle Astrid cued Bluebird to shoot her tail spikes at the opposing team. Though they were unharmed the three of them got pinned to the wall.

"No fair, you didn't give us time to answer," protested Tuffnut.

Scowling, Snotlout jumped to the ground. "I've got a question, what happens when I sic Hookfang on you?"

"Okay, trainings over," said Hiccup quickly, not wanting a fight to ensue. It was a chore to clean up afterwards. "We really did some good work today."

"Prepare to face some Monstrous Nightmare," called Snotlout, jumping onto the sleeping dragon and patting his jaw to wake him up. Hookfang instantly flared up causing his owner to race to a nearby water trough while screaming in pain. "This is the third time this week."

Hiccup walked over to his cousin. "Hookfang never flamed up when you were riding him. Is he okay?"

"Maybe he just realized who his owner is," joked Astrid.

Snotlout gave her a flirty look. "You know, there's room in here for two."

Scowling in annoyance the blonde pushed him into the water.

Hiccup smiled at the scene before heading out of the arena with Snowstorm and Toothless following after him.

"That was odd," said Snow glancing over at Hookfang worriedly. "You think he's okay?"

"He'll be fine," reassured Hiccup. "He probably just got mad because Snotlout woke him up."

Snow nodded, looking relieved. "You're right, I would have done the same if I were him."

"Ditto."

* * *

As the siblings made their way through the village they noticed a large crowd forming in the plaza. Curious, they pushed their way to the front to see what it was. To their surprise they saw Gobber with a cart full of weapons behind him.

"You may think these dragon killing weapons have no use, but think again," pitched Gobber. "This long sword makes a lovely butter knife."

Both children cringed when Gobber's attempt to demonstrate ended up with a broken plate and breadcrumbs. "It's also good for making breadcrumbs."

Despite his attempt to cover up the mishap the crowd remained skeptic.

"Well, this is a sad day," murmured Mildew from behind the kids. "A great dragon slayer peddling off his weapons as kitchen utensils, how sad."

"This mace makes an excellent, um, fly swatter," said Gobber lashing at a fly that had landed on the table. The mace missed the fly all while completely destroying the table.

"It's also good for getting rid of unwanted furniture," said Gobber nervously, before walking over to his catapult. "Now for the lady of the house. When the hubby is out pillaging, how are you going to protect yourselves? That's not a problem with Big Bertha here."

Gobber gave the weapon an affectionate pat, accidentally setting it off. The crowd gasped in horror when the rock landed on a nearby house, destroying its roof and wall. Shaking their heads they began to walk away.

"Wait there's more, I haven't even cleaned out my dungeon," called Gobber but the crowd ignored him. Sighing he patted his catapult sadly. "Don't worry, Bertha, we'll find a place for you."

"It must be hard to watch, especially for you two," Mildew sneered at the siblings. "You must be feeling terribly guilty. After all you did put him out of business with your little peace pact with the dragons."

Snow gave him a glare, "Don't you have cabbages to tend to, Mildew?"

Shrugging Mildew walked away. "Bravo, kids, you ruined a good man's life."

Snowstorm gently nudged her brother towards their house once the old man left. She didn't like guilty look on his face. "Don't worry its Gobber, he always bounces back."

"I know, it's just that Gobber taught me everything I know," said Hiccup. "He even made my leg for me. I just wish I could help him."

"Why don't we help him find a new job?" suggested Snow. "Gobber is a jack-of-all-trades. I'm sure that there's something out there that he'll love to do."

* * *

That night the kids were brainstorming in their room, trying to figure out what job would suit Gobber the best.

"Sheep herder?" Suggested Snow, reading off a list entitled Possible Jobs for Gobber.

Hiccup shook his head. "Too passive, Gobber gets antsy if he isn't active, besides Phil doesn't get along with the other sheep."

"Ok, scratch off sheep herder," Snow put a thick line across the name. "What about a cobbler?"

Before Hiccup could answer the front door slammed shut down stairs. Peering over the ledge of their room the two kids saw their father slowly make his way to his chair by the fire, groaning tiredly as he did so.

"Tough day of chiefing, father?" asked Snow jumping off the ledge to land on the floor below. Shaking his head Hiccup chose to take the stairs, like a civilized person.

"I was all over the village today," answered Stoick with a sigh. "I married the Svenson girl to the Odegard boy. "

Neither man noticed the grimace that crossed Snowstorm's face at the word 'married'.

"Then I went to the fields to stop a bunch of kids from yak-tipping. After that I went back to the newlyweds to settle a domestic dispute. I guess that honeymoons over," joked Stoick accepting a cup full of mead from his daughter. "Sometimes I wish there were two of me."

Hiccup hastily dropped a log into the fire pit. He had just got a crazy idea. "Dad, there _are_ two of you!"

"Is this another crack about my weight?" asked the chief defensively.

Snowstorm shook her head. "I don't think that that's what he meant. And for the record that wasn't a joke, it was an observation."

"No, I mean Gobber," explained Hiccup before his father could process what Snow had said. "He can be the other you."

Both Snowstorm and Stoick looked at him in surprise.

"Gobber? No, he's way too busy making those dragon killing-" began Stoick before realizing that those weapons weren't needed anymore. "Well, he was, until you, which is great, except for Gobber."

"Exactly my point," smiled Hiccup brightly.

"You know, I could use a right hand man," nodded Stoick. "What do you think Snowstorm?"

Snow bit her lip, unsure if she should really say what was really on her mind. She wanted to help Gobber but she knew that the man lacked the diplomacy needed to do a chieftain's job.

"It's worth a shot," she finally said, not wanting to disappoint both men. If either of them noticed her hesitance, they said nothing about it.

"Alright, I'll got tell him," smiled Stoick getting up to leave. The moment the front door closed Hiccup turned to his sister, wanting to know why she had lied.

"Ok, spill," he said, crossing his arms. "What do you _really_ think about Gobber being Dad's right-hand man?"

Snowstorm gave him a helpless shrug. "We might need to buy more ice blocks tomorrow."

* * *

Stoick groaned as he sat down at his table the next day. He didn't think it'd be possible but today had been one of the worst days as chief in his life. Even worse than the time an eight-year-old Snowstorm took a fourteen year-old Dagur out hunting. (Granted they both came back unharmed three days later with several pelts. But the sight of his chubby cheeked daughter covered in blood and grinning like, well, Dagur, was enough to give him nightmares for days afterwards.)

Stoick smiled at Snowstorm as she placed two large ice blocks in front of him.

"Whoa, a two block headache," said Hiccup handing him a mead-filled mug. "Maybe you're being too hard on Gobber, it was his first day. Tomorrow will be much better."

"Oh, it will be for me because it won't involve Gobber," replied Stoick taking deep gulps from his mead.

"You let him go already?" said Snowstorm, shocked. Sure, she had seen it coming, but she thought that her father would give Gobber a week at least before letting the guy go.

Stoick slammed his mug down on the table. "He sunk a ship, had Mulch and Bucket fight one another to settle a financial dispute, and he named a baby girl Magnus. I'm not sayings she didn't look like a Magnus but try telling her parents that."

"I would've gone with Thora," murmured Snowstorm, having caught glimpse of the homely infant. "It's more subtle that way."

Stoick nodded in agreement. Hiccup looked at the both of them in disbelief. "I can't believe you let him go. We have to help him."

"We don't have to do anything, but you two," he motioned at both kids. "Are going to be very busy finding a job for Gobber."

"Way ahead of you, father," said Snowstorm taking out her list. "Let's see, what's next?"

She then let out a sigh, dreading the words about to come out of her mouth. "Dragon training."

* * *

It was not a surprise to either sibling when none of their friends seemed thrilled about the idea when they explained it to them the next day.

"Gobber's coming here?" said Fishlegs.

"He's going to be great," Hiccup tried to reassure. "No, one knows dragon's better than he does. We can become better riders if we can tap into his knowledge."

The doors to the academy burst open, revealing Gobber and a cart full of weapons. "I'm back, did you miss me?"

"Quick question, why in the nine realms did you bring your weapons?" asked Snow not liking how tense the dragons got at the sight of them.

"I thought we could train them by threatening to kill them, that's how my daddy taught me to swim," answered Gobber, slamming a large mace into the ground. "School's in session."

Frightened the dragons raced out of the arena, getting followed by their worried trainers. "I didn't like school either," said Gobber, not bothered by the fact that the dragons had ran off.

"That actually went better than I expected," said Snow trying to lighten the mood.

* * *

It wasn't until several hours later did the teens finally return with their dragons, arching their backs and moaning tiredly.

"What's wrong with you guys?" asked Hiccup.

"We've been flying our dragons for four hours," explained Astrid slightly irritated. "It took us forever to chase them down after Gobber scared them away."

"Sorry about that," Hiccup apologized. "I don't know what to do with him."

_Whump, whump, whump._

Hiccup turned to see Snowstorm repeatedly kicking Tuffnut's butt. "Snow, what are you doing?" he asked, appalled at what he was seeing.

"It's okay, I asked her to. I just want to get the feeling back," reassured Tuffnut, letting out a loud yelp when he finally felt the pain.

"My turn," said Ruffut, bending over.

"I think that Tuffnut should take over this one," said Snow. "My foot is starting to get tired from kicking his bony butt so much."

Before Ruffnut could protest Tuffnut sent a kick her way.

"We've flown on Toothless for hours and we've never had that problem," said Hiccup

Astrid gave him an annoyed look. "That's because you two have a saddle."

Hiccup grinned, opening his journal to quickly jot down some designs. "Saddles, that what we need," he said excitedly. "Gobber's going to love this."

"I wouldn't count on it, Hiccup," muttered Snow.

* * *

Once Hiccup had come up with design for all the other riders the siblings made their way to Gobber's forge.

"Gobber, we have an order for you to make," called Snow when they entered the building. "The teens need saddles for their dragons."

"Saddles, I'd love to," exclaimed Gobber looking over the designs that Hiccup handed to him. He then dropped them on the floor, unimpressed. "I've got better ideas."

Both kids quickly gathered up the designs, not wanting Hiccup's hard work to go to waste. "I'm happy that you're excited but I still think there are some things in my designs that you could use," said Hiccup.

"You did teach everything he knows," added Snow.

"Exactly, that's why you should let Gobber do what Gobber does best," reasoned the older man. "I've been making saddles since you two were in diapers. In fact I made you're diapers."

Snowstorm frowned at him. "They gave me frequent rashes."

"I know that you know what you're doing," continued Hiccup. "Just remember every dragon is different."

"Hiccup,"

"You really should listen," began Snow.

"Snowstorm,"

"But-" protested both kids.

"Hicc. Up. Snow. Storm," said Gobber firmly. "I may have taught Hiccup everything he knows but not everything I know.

The siblings exchanged nervous glances before leaving Gobber to his work.

Half way across the plaza Snowstorm suddenly stopped, tilting her head as if trying to pinpoint a sound.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

Hiccup cupped his ear, trying to figure out what she referring to. Then he heard it, it was faint because of the distance but it was unmistakable. It was a song.

"_I've got my axe and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through and through._"

Snowstorm smiled at her brother. "It's Gobber's happy song."

Hiccup smiled back. "You know, we might have actually done some good today."

* * *

The next morning Gobber had finished all the saddles. Wanting to surprise the children he placed a heavy blanket over them, before the teens arrived at the academy.

"I've made a lot of saddles in my day, horse, donkey, and now dragon," said Gobber brimming with pride. "But these saddles are special. They're like my children that can be strapped to a flaming reptile and sat on."

Gobber pulled the blanket off the saddles. While the teens grinned in awe, Hiccup and Snow cringed in disbelief.

"This is not what I imagined," said Snow flatly.

Hiccup nodded in agreement before pointing to one of the saddles. "Is that a flame thrower?"

"Yup," said Gobber, demonstrating how it worked. "Didn't see that coming, huh?"

"No, I didn't," admitted Hiccup. "Considering the fact that dragons already have one built in."

"Yeah, but can you ever have too much fire power?" asked Gobber.

"Yes, you can- Oh my Thor, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, don't!" shouted Snow.

Hiccup turned to see the twins testing out their saddles. To his horror, the two were loading rocks into their built in catapults. When the twins launched the projectiles they accidentally knocked Barf and Belch out.

"Not the best idea to the twins their own catapults," murmured Hiccup.

"You can do it, girl," encouraged Fishlegs as Meatlug struggled to fly with the mace-laden saddle. They got a good four feet in the air before falling down.

"Oh, c'mon," protested Gobber. "You can't tell me that my saddle is heavier than Fishlegs."

"He's not heavy, just big-boned," defended Snowstorm, not liking the look that crossed the boy's face at Gobber's comment.

Fishlegs gave her a small smile. "My mom says I'm just husky."

Out of all of them Snotlout was the one having the most trouble. Hookfang refused to have the saddle on him, snapping and shooting fire whenever Snotlout go to close with it. "C'mon, Hookfang," said Snotlout in exasperation, reaching out to give his dragon a pat. "What's wrong with you?"

Hookfang just snarled, turning away from the boy. "That's it, someone's trading with me."

Tuffnut scoffed. "Sure, I'm going to trade my perfect dragon for an angry oven."

"This saddle is actually pretty good," commented Astrid, after she and Bluebird did a small test flight with it.

"Try out the horn," suggested Gobber.

Despite her better judgment Astrid did as instructed. The loud foghorn-like sound startled Bluebird, causing her to shoot spikes at Snotlout.

"Really, again?" said the boy when he got pinned to the wall.

"I think that we might need to make a few changes," said Hiccup.

"Way ahead of you. I've got so many ideas it's getting crowded in here," grinned Gobber giving his helmet a tap.

Both Hiccup and Snow shared a pained look.

* * *

"We need to let him go," said Snowstorm sweeping the arena floor alongside her brother.

Hiccup stopped to give her a shocked look. "Are you serious?! We can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because we promised that we would help find Gobber a job."

Snowstorm scowled. "Well, that doesn't mean that we should just let him destroy ours. Just look at this place, Hiccup, it's a mess! It looked better when we were killing dragons."

"What happened here?" called Stoick interrupting the siblings from their argument.

"We got Gobber-ed," answered Hiccup.

"That's Gobber for you, he means well but doesn't always do well," agreed Stoick. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Hiccup sighed. "I'm going to clean up his messes and fix his work."

Snowstorm shot him a dirty look. "No, you're not."

"Look, Gobber's like family," began Stoick.

"I know he is, that's why I can't say anything," said Hiccup, slightly frustrated.

Stoick shook his head. "No, son. That's why you need say something. It's not fair to you or to Gobber."

"Why do I have to be the one to say something?" protested Hiccup. "You didn't, you just passed him onto me."

"It's called delegating, Hiccup," answered Snow, placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"Look, son, I gave you this academy because it's the best for thing for Berk. Now you have to do what's best for the academy," said Stoick placing a comforting hand on Hiccup's shoulder to lead him out of the building. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but what's best is rarely what's easy."

Behind them Snowstorm made a small 'oh' sound, as if suddenly finding the missing piece to a puzzle. Tucking away that piece of information for later inspection she climbed on top of Toothless, feeling too tired to walk all the way back home. The two of them followed closely behind Hiccup and Stoick.

"What about him?" asked the chief, pointing to a sleeping Snotlout still pinned to the wall.

"Leave him," answered Hiccup. "He's going for a record."

"Enough said," chuckled Stoick. "Just make sure you tell your aunt where he is."

"Can we stay for dinner?" asked Snow. "Snotlout said that Aunt Gundis was going to make lamb stew tonight. I love lamb stew!"

"It depends," answered Stoick. "Will your aunt and uncle be alright with us intruding?"

Both siblings shared a knowing look. "Uncle Spitelout doesn't care who comes to dinner as long as he gets seconds," answered Hiccup. "And Aunt Gundis won't mind."

"As long as I'm there and she can pretend to be my mother, we could invite half the village and she wouldn't blink an eye," added Snow.

Stoick frowned at that piece of information. "Why don't we go to the Great Hall instead?"

Snowstorm pouted in response.

* * *

After dinner (they ended up going to the Jorgenson's, Stoick was not yet immune to Snow's 'pretty eyes.' He was very uncomfortable throughout the whole ordeal) both siblings and their Night Fury made their way to the forge.

"Hey, you never know, guys," said Hiccup. "Maybe Gobber finally looked at my plans and is fixing the saddles."

A loud '_bang'_ erupted from the forge, dark smoke seeping from the windows and doors.

"Or not," said Snow deadpanned.

Peeking through the entrance, both children called out for the blacksmith. "Gobber?"

Startled the large man whirled around, pointing his crossbow at them. Snowstorm sent him a bored look. She had been at the end of a crossbow many times during hunting trips, she even had the scars to prove it. So this kind of thing wasn't new to her. Hiccup, on the other hand, threw his arms up in surprise. "Don't shot us," he said.

"I would never shot you," smiled Gobber. "Unless I absolutely had to," he added.

Snow shrugged. "Good to know the feelings mutual."

Hiccup let out a nervous laugh, slightly disturbed by what the two had just said. "If you could pleas put the crossbow down, I know I'd feel better."

Gobber nodded, lowering the weapon before walking back to his workbench. "You know, I was thinking. Maybe the catapults were a bit much for the dragons. So I got rid of the two big ones,"

Hiccup and Snowstorm smiled widely.

"And replaced them with six little ones," continues Gobber, showing them the device.

The kids' smiles instantly dropped from their faces.

"Uh, actually Gobber I think you should take a break," said Hiccup.

Gobber gave him an incredulous look. "In case you haven't noticed the only time a Viking takes a break is to die."

"Lovely," murmured Snow under her breath. "What Hiccup means is that we're not really sure things are working out."

Gobber paused for a second before shrugging and continuing with his work. "Well, get back to me when you're sure."

The siblings shared a pained look.

"Okay, we're sure," said Hiccup, hating the words coming out of his mouth. "Gobber, we're going to have to take you off the saddle project."

The blacksmith stopped his work to turn to look at them. "Are you getting rid of me, Hiccup?" he said, trying to mask his hurt. "Now I see why you had me put down the crossbow."

"It's just the saddles," said Snow, not liking to see her honorary uncle like this. "We'll find another job for you."

"I don't need your pity," protested Gobber turning back to his work bench. "I already lost an arm and a leg I think I can survive losing a job."

"I'm sorry, Gobber," they apologized, giving him a soft pat on the back before leaving the forge.

"That was awful," said Snow, once they were outside. "I doubt that anything can be worse than that."

Suddenly a cacophony of screams rang through the plaza. Large burst of flames could be seen from behind buildings, sending villagers running in the opposite direction. Snow let out a frustrated groan. "The universe loves to prove me wrong."

Snotlout ran up them, panting heavily. Hookfang could be seen behind him, roaring and spitting out lava in the process.

"I never thought I'd have to say this, but help me!" cried the brunette, giving his cousins a shake.

The Nightmare jumped onto the roof of a nearby house, shooting jets of fire below and rubbing his jaw against the rough wood. He then jumped back into the plaza, roaring as he did so.

"Everyone back away," ordered Stoick to the fleeing villagers. "It's not safe, the dragon's out of control."

"What did you do to him?" asked Snow as they rushed towards the dragon.

"I don't know what happened," answered Snotlout." I was just rubbing his head, he usually loves it, but this time he went crazy. My dragon hates me!"

The three of them ventured deeper into the plaza, where Stoick and the rest of the teens were gathered. They all watched as Hookfang calmed down somewhat, rubbing the side of his face on the ground while letting out low moans.

"They do say a pet starts taking on the characteristics of its owner," suggested Fishlegs. "I think that's what's happening."

Snotlout elbowed the other boy's stomach in response, proving his point.

"When was the last time he ate," asked Hiccup as he stepped closer to Hookfang.

"Not for days," answered Snotlout.

Snowstorm handed Hiccup a fish from a nearby barrel.

"You hungry boy?" said Hiccup softly, tossing the fish into the dragon's eager mouth. After a few chews Hookfang yelped in pain, spitting out the fish. Both children winced when a chunk landed on Stoick's beard. "Sorry Dad."

"We need to get this dragon under control," ordered Stoick, tossing the fish behind him which Toothless happily swallowed.

"Don't worry, we can do this," said Snowstorm, reaching out to the Nightmare to try her luck. Placing a soothing hand on his snout she smiled when he stilled under it.

"There, there, sweetie, everything is going to be okay," she cooed, gently patting his jaw.

Hookfang yelped again, going wild. The dragon set itself on fire, letting out a lava shot.

"Snow, run!" shouted Hiccup.

"Way ahead of you," cried the red-head, racing back to her brother's side.

Toothless jumped in between the Nightmare and his friends. The two dragons wrestled for a brief second before separating. They circled each other, snarling and growling threateningly at one another. Hookfang fired a shot at Toothless, it missed the Night Fury hitting the house behind him instead.

"Toothless, stop," ordered Hiccup, not wanting things to get worse than they already were.

"I've seen enough, Hiccup," said Stoick. "I'm sorry but we tried it your way."

Hiccup watched in dismay as his father raced towards Gobber's forge.

"Hiccup, we need to do something," said Snow, panic seeping into her voice.

Hiccup turned back to see Toothless and Hookfang circling each other once more. "Okay, we need to calm Hookfang down. Does anyone have any dragon nip on them?"

The teens shook their heads no. Hiccup swallowed back the urge to cry out in frustration.

"Think guys, what have we not tried?" he said.

Snotlout glanced over his shoulder before freezing in horror.

"Gobber," he said, pointing the blacksmith covered with weapons.

"Stand back," said the man. "I came here to do what I do best."

"He's going to kill my dragon," whispered Snotlout in terror.

"No, he's not," protested Snowstorm stubbornly.

Tuffnut scoffed. "Yeah, he is."

Snowstorm sent him an acid glare, shutting him up.

"Dad, you can't do this," said Hiccup running up to Stoick. "Hookfang is Snotlout's dragon."

"I'm sorry, Hiccup, but sometimes you have to fall back on the old ways," apologized Gobber.

"But Hookfang is a good dragon," protested Snow.

"He's a good dragon," agreed Snotlout choking up.

"There's just something wrong with him," said Hiccup, trying to get the two men to change their minds.

"There's definitely something wrong with him," sobbed Snotlout. Snow put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You can't just get rid of him because he's having a bad day," continued Hiccup.

"A bad day for a dragon can be disaster for the village," argued Stoick. "That's a risk I'm not willing to take, Gobber."

Nodding Gobber pushed through the teens. With expert skill he threw a set of bolas, tying Hookfang's wings and legs together. The Nightmare tried to breathe fire but none would come out. "Hah, you're all out," said Gobber triumphantly, unsheathing his sword.

"No," cried Hiccup and Snowstorm in protest, racing towards the man. Hiccup grabbed hold of Gobber's arm, trying to pull it back. Meanwhile Snow placed herself between the man and dragon, pulling out a dagger from her boot in the process.

"I'm not letting you do this," she said, holding the weapon threateningly in front of her.

"It has to be done," said Gobber ready to shake off her brother. Just then Hookfang light himself on fire, burning through the ropes. He roared loudly in their faces.

"Did you see that?" asked Gobber in surprise.

"Uh-uh," nodded Snow, getting out of the man's way while her brother let go of his arm.

Gobber squared his shoulders before advancing towards the dragon. "Time to put this beast out of its misery."

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" asked Astrid, unsure of what was going on. Hiccup held up a hand to silence her.

Everyone watched intently as Gobber lunged onto Hookfang's snot. Despite shaking his head roughly the dragon couldn't get him off. Gobber latched onto something in the Nightmare's mouth when Hookfang let out a furious roar. Shaking his head more franticly the Nightmare was able to toss the blacksmith off.

"You didn't kill him," beamed Snotlout in joy.

"For a toothache?" questioned Gobber, holding up a large fang with a deep cavity in it. "What kind of lunatic do you take me for?"

Hookfang nuzzled Snotlout's stomach, purring happily. The dark-haired boy laughed, hugging his dragon's snout before remembering there were people present. "Stop, stop," he said, getting to his feet. "Don't know where that came from."

Snowstorm rolled her eyes, happily hugging Hookfang in her cousin's place.

"Thank you, Gobber," said Hiccup approaching the man. "A bad tooth, I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"That's because you're not Gobber," smiled the blacksmith. "I've forgotten more about dragons than most men will ever know. Well, better put the girls away."

Hiccup rubbed his chin thoughtfully before grinning at the man. "Gobber, not so fast."

* * *

The next day the Haddock kids and Toothless stood in line with several other dragons and their riders. They were all waiting for their turn so that Gobber could check on the reptile's teeth.

"I bet you didn't have Dragon Dentist on your list," teased Hiccup.

"Oh, hush," said Snow giving him a light push.

"_I've got my hammer and I've got my mace, and I love my wife with the ugly face. I'm a Viking through and through._"

Both children smiled at the familiar song.

* * *

**That's all folks. Again sorry for the delay, but I can't promise that it won't happen again. That's just life.**

**Don't forget to tell me how you felt about the chapter. If there any grammar or spelling errors please let me know. I tried to look for all of them, but since I lack a beta I'm sure that I might have missed one or two. If you have any suggestions about upcoming chapters feel free to let me know. I like hearing your thoughts and opinions on my stories. **

**Also don't forget to watch the new trailer for HTTYD 2, it's amazing.**

**Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and Snoggletog everybody! Love you, bye bye~**


	3. Teaching Animals Not to Be Scared

**Hello my wonderful readers, I hope you had a lovely holiday I know I did.**

**Oh, did any one see the poll I posted on my profile? I still haven't come up with a dragon for Snow. I have the situation of how they meet thought out I just don't have the dragon. When I think I have it down the plot bunnies get me and suddenly I end up imagining her having awesome adventures with a different kind of dragon. Pretty silly, huh? So if any of you are still interested in what kind of dragon Snow should have please vote.**

**Also for those who read my previews stories I would like to let you know that some of the things mentioned there will be further elaborated on in this story, one of those things being how Snowstorm came to be a great hunter, and who taught her. If any of you assumed that it was Stoick who taught her, well, you're wrong. It was some else from the village that taught Snow how to use a bow and arrow, and later taught her to track and hunt game. Because let's be honest here the possibility of Stoick handing Snowstorm a weapon and neither of them coming out angry and/or injured afterwards is incredibly slim.**

**This is also one of the reasons as to why Snowstorm was much more tolerated and respected than Hiccup. From a young age she was a hunter, thus providing for the village and being a constructive individual, in their eyes at least. Snowstorm doesn't hunt because people will respect her if she does or because it's for the good of the village. No that would be Astrid. Snow doesn't give two shits about the village. She does care for and love several individuals but the village as a whole is not one of her top priorities. Snow hunts because it's something that she not only excels at (the little goober is a prodigy) but it is also something that she loves to do. Not to mention Snow also made several friends who are hunters. **

**Enough of my long note lets go onto the story. Fair warning some scenes will be omitted to make way for other things. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Snow and a few OC's that will be presented in this chapter.**

* * *

A lone figure made its way to the edge of the forest. Though it was some time before dawn they could still see perfectly clear, the moon light reflecting on the snow below. There by the coast they spotted a bear dragging a seal carcass behind it. The large animal did not notice them, for the figure was not only downwind but also nearly invisible with its pure white hooded cloak. The figure pulled back the bow string until it lined up with its chin. Exhaling softly the hunter released the arrow.

It struck true. Before the bear could turn its head towards the sound of the arrow being released, it was hit. The arrow went deep into its throat puncturing the windpipe. Two more arrows followed the first finishing the animal off.

The hunter raced up to the bear with glee, glad to have spotted the rare creature. They ran its hands through the animal white coat, loving the feel of the bear's thick pelt.

"And just what are you planning to do with that?" asked a deep baritone voice.

The hunter smiled at the approaching man. He was a Viking, tall and muscular but not overly bulky or large. He had long strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a low pony tail that reached past his shoulder blades. He also lacked a beard sporting impressive sideburns instead. It was a good thing too, for he had a strong square jaw that would have been a shame to hide underneath a thick patch of facial hair. But was sealed the deal were his eyes, they weren't blue or gray or green like the rest. Instead his eyes were a soft honey brown, one so light that they seemed golden in the sunlight. Overall he was a handsome man.

"What do you think, Cally?" sassed the hunter. "I'm going to skin it and turn it into a lovely coat for my brother."

The man rolled his eyes. "Snoggletog was three weeks ago. You don't need to make your brother a coat."

"True I don't _need_ to do it," shrugged the hunter. "But I _want_ to give him a new coat."

The man, whose real name was Callouses, shook his head. "Its things like those that make people think you're in love with your brother."

"I'm not in love with Hiccup," protested the hunter, stomping her foot. She was glad that the shadows of her hood hid her blush.

Callouses smirked, making her huff in annoyance. "Settle down, kid, I was only teasing."

"How come you always tease me?" asked Snowstorm. "And I'm not a kid. I'll be turning thirteen in two months."

"And I'll be turning twenty-two in four months," answered Callouses, pulling out the arrows from the bear and handing them back to her. "Either way you'll still be a kid to me, kid."

Snowstorm pursued her lips, not quite pouting but close to it. "I don't see why you have to tease me. I'm your protégé you should be nicer to me."

"Since when are you my protégé?" he asked, tying a thick rope around the bear's torso and paws to make it easier for them to move it to camp.

"Since I was six and you started teaching me how to use a bow," said Snow, helping him tie the rope.

"I only taught you because the chief forced me to."

"And he only forced you to do it because I spent the whole night alone in the woods per your instructions."

Callouses shook his head at the memory. "I still can't believe you did that."

"Hey I wanted to learn how to shoot and I was going to do whatever I need in order to do it."

"Whatever kid," said Callouses pulling an end of the rope over his shoulder to drag the bear along. "Just remember, thanks to you I went from _Callouses the Stoic _to _Cally the soft._"

Snow rolled her eyes, pulling on another rope. "Please, you should be thanking me. I got you laid."

The strawberry blonde stopped to give her an incredulous look. "How in the Hel do you know I got laid? Better yet, how do you know what 'getting laid' even means?"

Snow gave him a deadpanned stare. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened when two teenagers walk out off a barn with hay in their hair and their clothes all rumpled. And Dagur told me what 'getting laid' means. Well, he actually told me what 'fucking' means but he also gave me a list of synonyms."

"Why did you even associate with that boy anyway?" grumbled the young man, continuing on his way.

"Because he was Oswald's son and Hiccup and I had to keep an eye on him. Not to mention he was someone I could talk to whenever I felt like ranting about Stoick who didn't judge me but also understood how I felt," she paused. "Also I thought that he was just a more hyperactive version of the twins."

Callouses chuckled, "Funny how it only took Hiccup nearly drowning of you to figure out what usually only takes a person one afternoon."

"Don't you dare remind me of that," hissed Snow.

"No need to get your skivvies in a bunch, kid, it was only a joke," grunted Callouses pulling harder on the rope.

"Well it isn't funny, I nearly lost Hiccup that day," she said.

"Sorry," he murmured.

She gave him a small smile, "It's okay I forgive you."

They didn't say anything after that. Both hunters pulled along the white bear in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Near dawn they came to a small campsite by the coast of the island. There by a small fire were three other Vikings.

The first was a large burly man sporting a thick beard that had several small braids woven in. His name was Haddi, something that one would easily figure out why by just looking at his arms covered with thick dark curly hair. Talking to Haddi was Annar. In one look you could instantly tell that he was a Hofferson, with his blond hair pulled back into a braid, serious but kind blue eyes, prominent ears, and the confident air that just oozed out of him. The last Viking was resting her head comfortably on Annar's shoulder. Her name was Auga and she was a Hofferson by marriage, though you could never tell. She was lean and strong with long blond hair pulled into a sophisticated marriage bun. The only way you could tell that she wasn't a Hofferson by blood was by looking at her eyes. Instead of the typical sky blue eyes of that clan, Auga's eyes were a polychrome of color, ever shifting between shades of blue and green with flecks of brown blooming in the middle.

"We're back," called Snowstorm. "And look at what I got."

Annar frowned at her. "You were only supposed to go after small game, remember? I don't want to get reprimanded by the Chief just because you can't follow orders."

"Settle down, Annar," said Auga giving him a soft smack on the chest. "Snowstorm caught over a dozen small gave I think she deserves just one little bear."

"That bear is not 'little', Auga," argued her husband pointing to the bear that Haddi and Callouses were stringing up a tree in order to bleed it. "It's nearly the size of the Chief himself."

Snowstorm huffed. "You're just jealous because I was the one who caught it and not you."

Annar sent her a deadpanned stare while the rest of the group snickered.

"I bet you would have used it as a new blanket for you and Auga's bed," continued the twelve-year-old.

She got an indignant scoff from the blonde, though the group just laughed louder at the sight of red on his ears.

"If you weren't the Chief's daughter I'd have you over my knee in a second," grumbled Annar.

Snowstorm waved her hand dismissively. "Promises, promises, you know you wouldn't do that. You like me too much."

"I liked you a lot better when you were a babe," replied the blonde, rolling his eyes good naturedly. "You were so tiny and cute. Better yet you couldn't even talk, am I right guys?"

He received a loud chorus of 'ayes' from the other two men, making Snow pout.

"You're a real riot, Hofferson, you know that?" He gave her a cheeky smile in return.

Auga shook her head at the group's antics. Despite the constant teasing and 'arguments' everyone adored Snowstorm and vice versa. She never complained when they were in active hunts and she always made sure to pull at least twice her weight around. It also helped that she was a hunting prodigy, able to track game in the worst of weather conditions and land a kill shot in one try.

The men respected that and (even if they denied it) adored her playful banter and sweet nature. They didn't even mind when Snowstorm would climb onto their laps late at night while they told (often gruesome) stories around the fire. Though they complained that it made them look soft, Auga knew that they liked to feel needed by the usually strong and independent child.

"That's enough you two," said Auga smiling fondly. "Snowstorm, why don't you help me clean up the campsite?"

"Is it time to go already?"

"The Chief only granted us a weekend trip," explained Haddi, wiping his hands clean of blood with some snow.

"You mean he only allowed _me_ a weekend trip," grumbled Snow, helping Auga tear down tent. "It's not fair I can never go on long trips with you guys."

"It's because you're still a child and he doesn't want you to get hurt," assured Auga. "Don't worry when you're older I'm sure you'll be able to join us on season long trips."

"Besides, I don't think you can last more than two weeks without seeing your brother," added Callouses with a playful smirk.

Snowstorm blushed deep red but didn't deny what he said. The thought of not seeing Hiccup for such a long time made her head spin.

"Just help clean up, Cally," she murmured busying herself with rolling up the sleeping blankets and stuffing them into one of their packs.

By midmorning they had everything ready. Their supplies were back into the packs they had brought with them. And all the game was either in one of several large baskets or in bundle next to them.

"Ready to go?" called Annar sliding on his pack.

The other adults nodded pulling out a whistle from underneath their tunics. Simultaneously all four blew on the bone whistles. After a few minutes four large shadows swept over them.

"Freya, Briarclaw, Inferno, Lavashot," called Snowstorm in delight racing towards the dragons.

There were two Nadders, a male and a female. Freya, the female, belonged to Auga. She was a soft baby blue with pink and yellow patches on her wings and sides. The male, Briarclaw, belonged to Annar. He was an intense green with blue and red patches on his wings and head.

The other two dragons were male Nightmares. The largest one was Inferno and he belonged to Haddi. Inferno's scales were bright orange with red spines. Lavashot belonged to Callouses. He had scarlet red scales littered with yellow and orange speckles.

All four dragons nuzzled at the little girl, happy receive her soft scratches once again. Snowstorm giggled happily, hands eagerly scratching at whatever surface they could reach.

"Alright you had your fun, get off her, you big lizards," said Annar shooing the dragons away from her.

His wife laughed, turning her attention to the red-head. "What will it be Snowstorm? Do you want to ride with me or on of the other guys?"

Snowstorm pondered the question for a second. "This time I want to with on Lavashot."

"Well get to it kid, I want to get home before noon," said Callouses sliding onto his dragon.

Snowstorm nodded, quickly getting on Lavashot, settling safely between the young man's legs.

"Let's go, Lavashot," said Snow giving the Nightmare a pat.

Callouses rolled his eyes when his dragon followed the child's orders. Raising to the air the Nightmare grabbed a pile of their kills with his claws as he did so. Soon everyone was up each carrying a portion of their game.

"Snowstorm, how soon do you think the Chief will allow you to go on another hunting trip?" asked Auga as they headed towards Berk.

She shrugged. "I don't know it depends on his mood during the week, why?"

"It's just that I don't think that we gathered enough to fill the store houses."

"Don't worry Auga, Devastating winter isn't until another month," said Haddi. "We've got plenty of time to go on more hunting trips."

"True," she agreed, a mischievous smile creeping on her lips. Before anyone could blink she and Freya took off at great speed.

"Last one back has to give Mildew a sponge bath," she called.

Grinning widely all the other hunters took after her.

* * *

**Meanwhile at Mulch and Bucket's farm**

"Not again," complained Mulch, spotting two dragons, a Nadder and a Nightmare, fighting inside one of the sheep pens. It was the third time that week and he was starting to get annoyed.

With Bucket's help, they were able to shoo the two dragons out of the pen.

"Time to earn your keep," said Mulch more cheerfully sitting down on his stool to milk a yak.

"Chickens lay eggs right?" asked Bucket from the chicken coop.

"Do we really have to go over this again?"

"No," answered Bucket looking underneath a sheep for eggs.

Mulch sighed getting up from his stool. "Apparently we do. Now pay attention Bucket."

He pointed to a yak. "Milk"

Then to a chicken, "Eggs"

And finally to a sheep, "Wool"

"It's not so hard now, is it?" said Mulch. Bucket gave him a confused look in return.

Mulch sighed again pointing to the yak. "Look, you just take an udder and pull."

Nothing came out. Mulch pulled again. Nothing. He gave it another tug. The yak gave him a kick.

"Uh-oh," said Mulch once he stopped rolling. "We'd better tell the Chief about this."

* * *

"What do you mean I can't take the bear home?" demanded Snowstorm. They were inside one of the store houses, unloading their kills and diving up their personal share.

"Because you weren't even supposed to get a bear," answered Callouses crossing his arms. "And I don't know about you, but I do not want to spend the next two hours getting yelled at by Chief for letting you go after big game."

"He doesn't have to know," protested Snow. "We could say that you killed it."

"And why would I give you one of my best kills?"

"Because you love me and want me to be happy."

Callouses gave her a deadpanned stare. "No."

Snowstorm stomped her foot in frustration. "Then what can I take home? You guys already called the foxes and rabbits, and all that there's left are silly squirrels."

"How about that wolf I got?" suggested Auga, pulling out the pitch black pelt from one of the baskets. "It's very pretty and I'm sure that it'll make a great cloak."

"Are you sure?" asked Snow touching the fur hesitantly.

"Of course, think of this as me paying you back for those beaver pelts you gave me last summer," said the blond pulling the pelt over the little girl.

The fur completely surrounded the child, it's still attached head her head and face like a hood. "Oops, I guess that it's a tad too big for you."

Snowstorm giggled. "No, it's perfect. I can't wait to show Hiccup."

"Just make sure that you do it with the head off," said Annar inspecting a silver fox pelt. "You wouldn't want to give anyone a fright."

Snow gave him a mischievous smile in response.

* * *

Up high in the watchtower sat Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and their dragons. The first two were chatting excitedly, retelling what had happened while they were dragon sledding earlier and how their dragons had protected them.

"Then they used their wings to block the snow," said Hiccup.

"It was as if their protective instincts just kicked in," added Astrid.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening, not even in the book of Dragons," said Fishlegs in awe.

"Who would believe it? The same dragons we've spent centuries fighting coming to our rescue," said Hiccup giving Toothless a grateful smile.

Astrid nodded in agreement. "I know, if it weren't for them we would've frozen to death."

"Why didn't you just your body heat to keep each other warm?" asked a muffled voice behind them.

All four teenagers yelped in fright at the sight of a large black wolf staring back at them. As a reflex Astrid threw a punch at the creature, only for it to get caught by a small hand.

"No need to get your skivvies in a bunch," said Snow pulling off the wolf pelt. "It's just little ole me."

"Don't do that," scolded Astrid, her cheeks turning pink from anger and embarrassment.

"How did you get up here?" asked Fishlegs trying to slow down his heart.

"I got a ride," she answered, pointing to Briarclaw hovering a few meters away.

"That wasn't funny, Annar," shouted Astrid at her laughing brother.

"It was from up here," shouted the blonde waving good-bye.

Hiccup eyed the wolf pelt in amusement. "So I take it you had a bountiful hunt."

"Uh-huh, I even got a bear. Just don't tell father," mocked whispered Snowstorm.

Hiccup gave her a gentle smile. "I won't, just be careful next time, okay?"

"Hey, Hiccup," called Tuffnut from below the tower. Peering over the edge the teens saw him standing next to his sister.

"Your dad's looking for you," he said.

"He looked really mad," added Ruffnut.

"He's looked mad since the day I was born," dismissed Hiccup climbing on top of Toothless.

"I wonder how high I can make Father jump?" murmured Snowstorm out loud, climbing behind him.

"You're actually going to try and spook the Chief?" asked Astrid in disbelief.

Hiccup shook his head. "Trust me this isn't the worst thing she's pulled."

Snowstorm just smiled innocently as they took off.

The moment they opened the door Snowstorm launched herself at her father, growling ferociously as she did so. Stoick let out a startled shout stumbling backwards onto his back.

"Got you," called Snowstorm, giggling madly just as Stoick pulled out a dagger from his belt.

Stoick pulled back the wolf head from his daughter. Snowstorm gave him a cheeky smile at the sight of his stern scowl. "How many times have I told you? No attacking people with animal pelts."

"You're just mad because you flinched," sassed Snow.

Stoick ignored the comment. "While we're on topic, how much game was the hunting party able to get."

"Well, we got seven deer, three of them were bucks," recounted Snowstorm. "Ten boars, twelve rabbits, fifteen squirrels, four foxes, a wolf, oh, and one white bear."

Stoick shook his head. "That isn't enough, we might get snowed in for months."

Snow raised an eyebrow. "But it's too early for a storm. Devastating winter isn't until another month."

"Not according to Gothi," said Stoick.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Hiccup. "We can't control the weather."

"Though, that would be cool," added Snow.

"No, but you can control dragons," answered Stoick. "If they don't stop scaring the farm animals we won't have any provisions to live on."

Bucket and Mulch entered the house.

"Any luck?" asked Stoick.

Mulch shook his head handing the Chief the empty milk bucket. "Not a drop, and that's after yanking on that poor yak for three hours."

All three men turned to look at Hiccup.

"It's not like the animals are trying to be scary," defended the young heir. "They don't even eat livestock."

"True, but they're large, breath-fire, and now that we've made peace with them, they're everywhere," said Gobber.

"This is where you two start fixing it," said Stoick.

"Okay, but how long before the storm hits?" asked Hiccup.

"About a week," answered Mulch.

Snowstorm smiled at the news. "No problem, that's plenty of time."

Bucket let out a pained moan. "Scratch that, three days six hours," corrected Mulch.

"Okay, that might be more of a problem," said Hiccup.

"So, we start tomorrow?" asked Snow.

Hiccup nodded. "Could you go and tell the others? I need to come up with a plan."

Snow nodded heading towards the door.

"And Snow?" called Hiccup.

She paused looking back over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"Leave the wolf pelt here, please."

Snow sighed in disappointment but did as told.

* * *

The next day at dawn the trainers and their dragons found themselves at the Academy along with several of the farm animals. Snowstorm had called in favor and borrowed Freya and Lavashot to help train the farm animals. Callouses had been the most reluctant, feeling that he could use the dragon's help to prepare his home for the upcoming storm but still said yes.

"Come on, big boy," coaxed Hiccup pulling the yak towards the two dragons with the help of his sister and Astrid.

"They seem scary but they're just big, scaly reptiles," said Snowstorm.

Tuffnut laughed. "Just like Snotlout."

Insulted Snotlout grabbed the blond boy's vest, preparing to give him a good punch in the face. "You're the guy right?" he asked, not wanting to hit a potential girlfriend.

"No," squeaked Tuffnut in a high pitched voice.

Freya and Lavashot snapped at one another, frightening the yak to a corner of the arena.

"Stop that, you're scaring the animals," scolded Snowstorm. The dragons did as told, not liking the stern voice she was using.

"Good dragons," praised Snow, petting their snouts.

"What if we look at this from an animal's perspective?" suggested Fishlegs, getting on his hands and knees to crawl up to the Nightmare. "Hello Mr. Dragon, I'm just a little sheep here, walking, doing sheep things. Baa."

The sheep gave Fishlegs unamused stares.

"Fishlegs you might want to cut that out before-" began Snowstorm. Lavashot roared in the boy's face, cutting her off.

Startled Fishlegs scrambled underneath Meatlug for protection. "Sorry but I'm siding with the sheep on this one."

"It's not Lavashot's fault," defended Snow. "He thought you were mocking him."

"Look, I've learned that once you have a positive experience with something you're afraid of then it isn't so scary anymore," said Hiccup, herding a small group of sheep towards the dragons. "We need to show them that they have nothing to be afraid of."

Lavashot sniffed at the sheep curiously, his master didn't have livestock save for a cat that kept the barn free of pests. Some of the sheep's fluffy wool tickled at his nose making him sneeze out a small flame. The sheep scrambled in fright, one of them on fire.

Snowstorm quickly caught it, putting out the flame with Astrid's help.

"At this rate we'll never get any milk or eggs," groaned her brother in frustration.

"Yes we will," insisted Snow picking up the sheep to put it close to the dragons once more. "We just have to try harder."

The sheep bleated in panic as they reached the reptiles. It struggled frantically managing to break free from Snow's grasped. The sheep ran away desperately, cuing the other animals to panic as well.

"Another way to help the animals overcome their fear is to show them that dragons are afraid of things too," said Hiccup.

"Remember Magnus the Merciless?" said Astrid. "I was afraid of him until I found out he was afraid of the dark."

"During the day, merciless," Tuffnut smirked.

"And during the night, Tuffnut," grinned his sister.

Irritated Tuffnut punched her in the shoulder. "That's a real problem," he defended.

"It's okay Tuffnut, I'm afraid of thunderstorms," shared Snowstorm, smiling reassuringly at him.

"I'm just saying, knowing that he was afraid of something made him less scary to me," continued Astrid.

"So let's show the yaks that dragons are afraid of things too," said Hiccup walking over to Lavashot and Freya with two live eels.

Both dragons squawked in terror at the sight of those creatures. The yaks bellowed thoughtfully at the sight.

"I think it's working," beamed Astrid.

Hiccup smiled her way, accidentally letting go of one of the eels. It slithered towards Lavashot causing him to accidentally whack a sheep toward the wall with his tail as he tried to get away. Snowstorm quickly grabbed the eel, tossing it to a far corner of the Academy. "It's okay, Lava," she cooed petting his snout soothingly. "I won't let it hurt you."

Hiccup let out a groan burying his head in his hands. "Don't worry," whispered Astrid comfortingly.

"Worried?" repeated Hiccup snapping his head back up. "I'm not worried. Do I look like I'm worried?"

"No, you look like your about to have a panic attack," answered Snowstorm, not liking the manic look in his face. "I think that it's time to call it a day."

Hiccup took a deep breath to calm down. "Okay, we'll try again tomorrow. Astrid, Fishlegs, could you two take the animals back to their pens? Snowstorm and I are going to take Freya and Lavashot back home."

Astrid and Fishlegs nodded, herding the animals out of the arena.

"We still have two days," reassured Snow, climbing on top of the Nightmare. "We can do it, Hiccup."

"I hope you're right, Snow, I hope you're right," whispered Hiccup, looking up at the darkening sky.

* * *

The next few days after that weren't any better. Several sheep got caught on fire, and Hiccup nearly got trampled by a stampeding yak. But the worst day would have to be the day of the storm. The animals ran around scared witless as Lavashot and Freya roared and snarled irritably at them. Both dragons weren't intentionally trying to frighten the animals. They were just upset that they could not be with their owners to protect them from the fast approaching storm.

"Easy, settle down," ordered Snow ushering the dragons back into a corner.

"You know what I'm learning from this?" said Hiccup with an armful of chickens. "Chickens are really, well, chicken."

"What if we showed them how much they have in common with the dragons," suggested Fishlegs. "They both lay eggs, right? A Terrible Terror laid one last week."

Fishlegs set down a large green egg in front of the chickens. Hiccup smiled when one of them sat down on top of it to incubate it. "An egg is an egg, right ladies?"

A second later the egg exploded, sending the chickens scrambling in all directions. "Until it explodes," he muttered.

Just then Gobber and Mulch entered the arena. "Everybody out, the storm is here," called the former.

"Wait we haven't made any progress with the animals yet," protested Hiccup as Gobber and Mulch began to gather them up.

"Stoick wants everyone in the Great Hall," called Gobber.

"Take Snow and the others," insisted Hiccup. "I need to stay and keep working with the animals, they're still afraid."

"We can't get eggs from a frozen chicken," argued Gobber. "We've got to get the animals in the barn."

"Hiccup, we have to go," urged Snow, pulling on his arm.

Hiccup sighed. "Alright, go drop off Lavashot and Freya back to their owners. I'll help move the animals to the barn."

Snowstorm shook her head. "They already left on their own not too long ago, so I guess I'll help you guys out."

The walk to the barn was pointless however, as it had become frozen shut by the time they reached it.

"There's no other place to hold them," cried Mulch.

"The Great Hall," called Hiccup, pointing in the direction of the building.

"So we're going to have the dragons and the animals together?" questioned Mulch. "We know that won't work."

"We don't really have a choice," said Snow, herding the sheep towards the Great Hall.

As the group moved towards the designated building the storm began to grow stronger. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck a tree right in front of Bluebird, startling her. The Nadder jumped back, accidentally hitting Hookfang with her tail spikes. Angered Hookfang flamed up, frightening the animals into scattering off. As hard as the teens tried to coral the animals back they couldn't. The animals were just too spooked to listen.

"Where are you two going?" asked Gobber as Hiccup and Snow climbed on top of Toothless.

"We're getting the animals back," answered Hiccup.

"Forget it," argued Gobber. "You'll never get them rounded up in this storm."

"With Toothless we can," insisted Snow confidently. "If we don't we'll starve to death."

"No, your father will skin me alive if I let you two do this!"

Neither child listened to him, taking off in the direction the animals had run off.

"Astrid, will you talk some sense," began Gobber before he saw her climb on to her own dragon as well. All the other teens did the same, ignoring Gobber's shouts of protest as they took off.

* * *

As the teens flew through the forest the storm grew harsher making it harder to see. Toothless fired a plasma blast, illuminating the area. "Find as many as you can," ordered Hiccup. "We'll try to herd them to the Great Hall."

"Can we swing by my house?" asked Fishlegs shivering. "I'd like to get my heavy coat."

"It's so cold I can't feel my face!" hollered Tuffnut, slapping himself to prove his point. Ruffnut punched him in the jaw and was disappointed when he didn't feel it.

"There they are," shouted Snowstorm, pointing to a cluster of animals below.

The teens began to gather up the cold and frightened animals.

"Yaks to the left," shouted Fishlegs.

"Chickens to the right," called Snotlout, diving after the poultry and cutting off Fighlegs in the process. "Hey, I'm flying here!"

"Chickens follow me," shouted the rude boy, flying low next to them. Hookfang's eyes widened when he saw a tree in their way. As the last minute he maneuvered out of the way, startling his rider.

Meanwhile Fishlegs attempted to herd the sheep. "Sheep, this way, baa, baa!"

The sheep followed the large boy's instructions. Along the path they ran underneath a log, in which Fishlegs and Meatlug got stuck under.

"I got them," called Astrid, following after the stray sheep. Just as they were flying over them Astrid had Bluebird shoot her spines at the sheep, successfully corralling the animals. "Gotcha," she grinned.

Her victory didn't last long. A moment later Hookfang flew by the makeshift pen, knocking the spines over with his wings.

"Snotlout, what are you doing?" demanded Astrid. "You're all over the place."

"You try flying a dragon who doesn't listen to you," he snapped back.

Astrid looked for the sheep again, quickly spotting three who got separated from the main group. "Hiccup, stray sheep!" she shouted, pointing in the direction they ran off.

"On it," he called as they raced towards the wandering sheep.

The sheep ran across a snow ledge. Just as the smallest was round the corner, its hooves lost their grip on the ice. The little animal brayed in terror as it slid off the edge of the snowy slope before plummeting to the ground below.

Toothless quickly caught the lamb, giving it a friendly smile before setting it down by its parents.

"Great job, Toothless," praised Snow.

"Hiccup, Snowstorm, the storm is getting worse," called Astrid flying up to them. "I can't see a thing."

"Come on, bud, give us some light," said Hiccup. Toothless obeyed, shooting a plasma blast. "Stray yaks at twelve o'clock," called the boy, spotting tow dark figures in the distance.

"I see them," said Tuffnut, diving after them along with his twin. "And they are huge." Barf and Belch quickly snatched the figures in one clean swoop.

"Put me down!" called an angry voice below them. The twins looked down, surprised to see that they had grabbed their Chief and Gobber instead. With a shrug they did as told.

Hiccup landed Toothless in front of his father. Reluctantly both children dismounted. "You two shouldn't be out here," scolded Stoick.

"Dad, I'm sorry I let you down," apologized Hiccup.

"It's not your fault, Hiccup," said Stoick. "I'm taking all of you back."

"Which way?" asked Gobber.

"We follow our tracks," answered the Chief, pointing behind him only to see that the snow had covered them up completely.

"What do we do now?" asked Snowstorm, trembling from the icy wind. Hiccup put his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest. Stoick looked at the other teens, seeing that they were shivering just as badly as his kids were.

"Everyone, come together," he ordered. They all huddled together, pressing tightly against one another to keep warm.

Toothless got up from his spot in the snow, sensing that his friends needed his help. He called to the other dragons, which got up as well and followed him towards the huddling humans. Everyone looked up in surprise as the dragons formed a circle around them, stretching out their wings to shield them from the wind and snow.

"What are they doing?" asked Stoick in awe.

Hiccup looked at the dragons with pride. "They're protecting up, it's their natural instinct."

The dragons then began to fire blasts at the ground, warming up the humans.

Toothless glanced over his shoulder spotting the three sheep from before huddling together for warmth. The dragon bounded towards them, making the parents scurry off in panic while the lamb cowered in the snow. Toothless gave it a gentle nudge, urging him in the direction of the circle. The lamb moved slowly towards the circle, braying happily once he was inside its warmth. Following after the lamb were its parents, who were then copied by the rest of the animals. Soon all the farm animals were inside the shelter, no longer afraid of the dragons but grateful for the protection they provided.

"Your dragons sure are something, kids," said Stoick, placing a proud hand on both their shoulders.

"Yeah, they are," agreed Snow, snuggling close to her brother's warmth.

* * *

Morning came and with it an artic fog and a large mountain of snow. It would be weeks before anyone could step outside. The dragons shook the snow off their wings and soon they, along with the animals, were ushered to the Great Hall by the teens.

The Vikings soon made it to the Great Hall, carrying sheep on their backs and chickens in their arms.

"They're back and they're alright," exclaimed Mulch, when they entered the building.

"And the animals are alright too," added Bucket excitedly.

"Uh-oh, here come the dragons," said Mulch, eyeing Hookfang wearily. But to his surprise three sheep hopped off the Nightmare's back, completely at ease with him. "Well, would you look at that?"

"Look everybody," called Snowstorm, holding up a large egg. "The chickens are laying eggs again."

Everyone cheered at the news, glad that they would be able to have plenty of provisions during their stay. Hiccup and Stoick looked on proudly as the animals and dragons began to settle in smoothly.

"Close the door, will you?" said Snow, walking off with Toothless. "You're letting the draft in."

Both men shook their heads with a smile, shutting the doors behind them.

* * *

_Extra_

Later that day during meal time Snowstorm sat across a table with Callouses, excitedly retelling him about her the adventure she had the last few days. Needless to say he was not amused.

"So let me get this straight, you borrowed my dragon, whose help I could've used, for nothing," said Callouses, looking down as Snow with a stern expression.

"I wouldn't say for nothing," she said sheepishly. "Now we know that life or death situations are the best way to get animals to stop being afraid of dragons."

Callouses massaged his temple in an effort to not lose his patience with the girl.

"Are you mad?" asked Snowstorm.

"I'm not mad."

"Really? Cause you sound mad," she insisted. "And you look mad too, you have that wrinkle in your forehead that you always get-"

"I'm not mad," snapped Callouses, making her jump in surprise. Toothless raised his head from his resting spot by the table, growling warningly at the man.

"Now you really sound mad," muttered Snow, looking down at her hands dejected.

Callouses sighed, "I'm not mad, well, not at you at least. I'm upset that you nearly had to freeze to death in order to get a bunch of brainless birds to lay eggs."

Snowstorm gave him a sweet smile. "Thanks, Cally, I care about you too."

The older Viking rolled his eyes. "I never said anything about your pale hide, kid. I just don't want to be the only one who suffers during hunting trips when Annar and Auga get lovey-dovey."

Snowstorms smile grew wider. Callouses had failed to remember that there were several other hunters that would suffer alongside him. "You know what this calls for?" she whispered.

"What?"

"Hugs," she called reaching towards him.

Callouses pulled back sharply, scowling at her. "Oh no, you know the rules. No public displays of affection unless one of us is dying or in danger of getting banished."

Snowstorm pursued her lips cutely, her eyes grown large and sad. "Please, Cally," she whispered sweetly, reaching out her arms while tilting her head slightly to the side.

The usually stoic hunter looked at her for a second before admitting defeat. Scowling deeply he reached across the table, picking her up by her armpits before setting her on his lap. Snowstorm grinned smugly, snuggling against his chest.

"You really need to shave," commented Snow while making small braids in his long hair. The Viking snorted, he only had stubble.

"I'll shave when you get married."

Snowstorm made a disgusted face. "I'm never getting married."

"Then I'm never going to shave."

"Hey, Callouses. Snow, what are you doing?" greeted Hiccup, as he walked passed them.

"Trying to convince Cally to shave his beard," chirped his sister.

"Which I won't."

"Yes, you will," insisted Snowstorm, starting on another braid.

Callouses rolled his eyes. "How do you even live with her, lad?"

Hiccup shrugged, not sure as to how to answer the question. "I guess with a lot of patience and the knowledge of when it's just best to give in. Well, I'll leave you two to settle that on your own. Oh, and Snow, please don't try to shave his beard off in his sleep."

Snow gave him a reluctant nod. Satisfied Hiccup headed over to where the twins were settled, ready to stop them from doing whatever prank they were planning.

"You really wouldn't do that, would you?" asked Callouses once Hiccup was out of hearing range.

Snow shook her head. "Nah, I don't have a razor."

* * *

**That's all folks, 'til next week. **

**Don't forget to vote on which dragon you think would suit Snow better. If it is not on the people please tell in a review or a PM, which ever suits your fancy.**

**I hope that you all had a wonderful year, and that you have an even better one. **

**Be safe, be warm, and be brave. Bye~**


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